Combined sash balance and fastener.



J. MBNEGUS.

COMBINED SASH BALANCE AND FASTENER.

APPLIoATloN FILED JUNE 29, 1911.

1,008,846, yPaten'd Nov. 14, 1911.

CULUMBIA PLANOURAPH co., wAsrllNaTDN, D. c.

JIULIUS'MENEGUS, OF YQRK, N. Y.

COMBINED SASH BALANCE AND FASTENER.,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

Application me@ June ,29, 1911.- serial No 636.961,;

To all whom i1; may concern:

Be it known that I, JIULIUS MENEGUS, a subject of the King of Italy, residing in New York, in the borough o-f Queens, county of Queens, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Sash Balances and Fasteners, of which the following is a Specification.

This invention relates to an improved combined sash balance and fastener which, in place of being lifted for being opened and which is closed by gravity, is automatically raised by the'action of spiral springs, which are wound up by the .downward motion of the window, when closing the same.

In car-windows the opening of the same on releasing the looking catches is frequently connected with considerable difficulty asthe weight Aof the window has to be overcome.

The object of this invention is to produce the automatic opening of the car-window by the simple pressure on a button so that the barrels of the lifting springs are released and t-he opening of the window greatly facilitated; and for this purpose the invention consists of a car-window which is provided in both .stiles with spiral lifting springs which are located in barrels or housings provided with ratchet-wheels, said ratchet-wheels being engaged by suitable releasing mechanism when the window is to be opened and placed in mesh with rackbars in the uprights of the window-casing.

The invention consists further in the arrangement of a pivoted lever-handle at the lower cross-bar of the car-window and mechanism between the lever handle and the ratchet-mechanism of the barrels of the lifting springs for releasing the barrels when lowering the window and rewinding the lifting springs.

The invention consists further of springactuated mechanism for holding the ratchetwheels of the spring-barrels in mesh with the rack-bars of the window-frame and lastly of mechanism for holding the window in raised position in connection with the ratchet-mechanism of the barrels of the lifting springs.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a front-elevation of my improved combined sash balance and fastener, with parts being broken away, Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the lower inner portion of the window drawn on a larger scale `and showing one of the lifting springs for the same and the mechanism for' releasing the barrels of the lifting springs for permittins the autorisatie lifting 0f .the Windev, Fig. 3 is a detail horizontal section on line 3, 3, Fig. 2, Figs. 4 and 5 are 'respectively a vertical transverse section on line 4, Fig. 2, and a horizontal section on line 5, 5, Fig. 2, Fig. 6 is a detail of the rack-bar, Showing the means for holding the car-window when in raised position, and Fig. 7 is a vertical transverse section on line 7, 7, Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the different figures. T l

Referring to the drawings, a represents the casing and Z2 the sash of a car-window. The casing a is provided at both sides of the sash with grooves al in which are ar; ranged rack-bars b1. In the lower portion of the side-rails of the window-sash b are arranged recesses of suflicient size to permit the insertion of spiral lifting springs c and their barrels c1. The inner ends of the lifting springs are attached to shafts s which are provided lwith square ends that are guided in recesses f1 of side-plates f. A y

U-shaped keeper f2 is guided in the recesses of the' side-plates and bears on the square ends .of the shaft s. The circumference of each barrel e1 is provided with a ratchetwheel c?V the teeth of which are held, by means of a flat spring ke3 which presses on the rear-end of the U-shaped keeper f2, in mesh with the rack-bar b1, as shown clearly in Figs. 2 and 3. The spiral springs e are attached at their inner ends to the shafts of the barrels and at their outer ends to the inner circumferences of the same. They are of suiiicient strength for counterbalancing the weight of the window-sash and for lifting the sash automatically as soon as the locking pawls c4 of kthe ratchet-wheels on the spring barrels are released. The locking mechanism for the spring-barrels is preferably actuated so vas to release the spring-barrels, by pressure on one or two push-rods g which are arranged on a crossbar g1 -in a casing g2 in the lower rail of the car-window, andv by intermediate mechanism between the buttons and the locking pawls of the spring-barrels. The inward pressure on one of the push-rods g pushes la spring g3 which is provided with a projecting lug gf1 inwardly and out of the Arecess of a `slideplate g5 that is guided on and acted upon by the free ends of a flat spring g", so that plates zp are connected at their outer ends by means of rods 71,2 with the lower ends of spring-actuated levers h3 which are fulcrumed into recesses at the lower corners of the window-sash, the upper ends of said levers'wengaging the lower arms of the fulcrumed, elbow-shaped pawls et, the upper arms of which engage the teeth on the ratchet-wheels on the barrels of the lifting springs, as shown in Fig. 2.l As soon as either one of the buttons is depressed, the

releasing mechanism is actuated and the locking pawls withdrawn from engagement with the ratchet-wheels on the spring-barrels, so that the lifting springs can act and raise instantly the window-sash into open position. The turning of the spring-barrels is accomplished in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 2, and produces by the intermeshing' of the ratchet-wheels e2 with the rack-bars the lifting of the sash.

The rack-bars b1 are provided near their upper ends with arc-shaped portions b2 which are arranged concentrically with the spring-barrels, said arc-shaped portions permitting the support of the window-sash in raised position as the ratchet-wheels are forced by the spring-actuated keepers of the spring-barrels in outward direction and into mesh with the arc-shaped portions formed in the ratchet-bars, so that a dwell is provided for the window-sash, when arriving in raised position under the influence of the lifting springs.

For closing the window-sash, a handle'fa is hinged to lugs on the front-plate of the v casing of the releasing mechanism, said hanthe lug on the spring-plate.

dle being provided with a spring nl that holds the handle in raised -position on the casing. The handle a is provided at the lower end with a projection n2 that enters through a slot a3 in the front-plate and engages the lower end of the slide-plate of the releasing mechanism so as to return it into raised position into engagement with During the downward motion of the sash the ratchetwheels are first moved out of the arc-shaped portions b2 and then in downward direction and produce, as they are in mesh with the rack-bars, the rewindingof thesprings until the sash arrives in itsl lower or closed position when the lever-handle is released.

`The springs, beingl rewound by-the downward motion of the sash, are in condition yfor again lifting the sash and opening the next lifting land opening of the sash.

Having thus vdescribed my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. The combination, with the frame 'of a car-window provided with rack-bars, of a sash provided ywith lifting springs, one in each jamb of the same, spring-actuated barrels for said springs, means for guiding the barrels toward the racks, ratchet-wheels on said barrels, locking pawls for said barrels, and a releasing mechanism for the ratchetwheels of the lifting springs, said releasing mechanism consisting of push-rods in the lower rail of the sash, and intermediate mechanism between the push-rods and pawls for actuating the latter and releasing the spring-barrels.

2. In a car-window, the combination of a window-frame provided with rack-bars f having inwardly-bent portions or dwells at their upper ends, a window-sash, springbarrels located in the lower side-portions of the jambs of the sash', ratchet-wheels on said spring-barrels, means for guiding the-v barrelsl toward the racks, springs for holding they ratchet-wheels of the spring-barrels in mesh with the racks, locking means for said barrels and a releasing mechanism for said spring-barrels.

3. In a car-window, the combination, with a window-frameprovided with rack-bars in its sides, of a window-sash, spring-barrels in the lower portions of the jambs of the window-sash, ratchet-wheels on said springbarrels meshing with said rack-bars, locking means for said barrels, a releasing mechanism for said spring-barrels, a fulcrumed and spring-actuated handle on the lower rail of the sash, and means for operating the releasing mechanism so as to withdrawv the locking means from the ratchet-wheels of the spring-barrels and permit the winding of the springs on the downward or return movement of the sash.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JIULIUS MENEGUS.

Witnesses: n

PAUL GOEPEL, FANNIE FIsK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing` the "Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G. 

